Latest Posts
School Cafeteria Acoustics
Cafeterias are generally extremely loud places, so the situation is quite normal. Stuff a bunch of kids into a concrete room and even though they’re supposed to be filling their mouths, the noise level will be ear splitting. These cafeterias are almost always made out of vinyl tile flooring and painted concrete block walls, both extremely reflective surfaces. Noisy kids plus reflective surfaces equals headaches […]
Soundproofing a Skylight
A skylight is obviously installed to be a light source and any acoustical fix is going to need to be as transparent as possible. Fortunately, we have a solution that most people will not notice, visually. Our Climate Seal™ Acoustic Series Window Inserts are custom made inserts or retrofit windows that you are able to install yourself, very easily. The windows are built with a perimeter bellows which frame a clear, 1/4″ thick acrylic sheet. The acrylic that we use is guaranteed never to yellow, and is nearly invisible [..]
Cubicle Acoustics
“I recently was moved from an office to a big cubicle area at work. As you can imagine, the worst thing about being in the cube is the noise. I am desperate to find a solution to block as much noise as possible.” I have a very good friend that is in the same situation. He is in a similar situation where his workspace is in a cubical in a larger room. The sound coming from his co-workers was his first complaint and of course he called me to see what could be done to minimize the bothersome noise […]
TV Studio Acoustical Treatment
I get calls every now and then from people or companies that are researching acoustical panels for a TV or media studio of some kind. My most high-profile treatment to date is the set for the TV show The Biggest Loser, but unfortunately I don’t think they can be seen in any of the shots […]
Publishing Facility Solution
Hi, Ted, Well, we put up the panels and we took before and after pictures (attached). We put them up on one side and noticed a sense that the echo had gradually all shifted to the other side. By the time they were all up we really felt so much better in the space. Before […]
Soundproofing a Noisy MRI Scanner
I can’t remember the last time that I have been around an MRI so can not recall the exact noise that the machines made, but I assume that it is a very low mechanical “drone”. If this is the case, it is a fairly challenging acoustical situation […]
Boiler Room Sound Problem
Boiler or mechanical rooms are generally pretty noisy places. Not only are you going to have multiple noise sources but one will almost always find that these are rooms made up of all hard surfaces. The sound from the machines has no where to go, and the sound waves will just bounce from surface to surface. Believe it or not, the sound pressure in the room can actually be greater than the sum of all of the sound being made by the machines because of these reflections. So, I would suggest a product that will not only help the existing wall block the sound from leaving the room, but also absorbing the reverberation inside of the room itself […]
Noisy A/C Help
“The problem is, recently, our neighbors, who themselves, do not have any A/C or window units, keep their old windows open during the hot Boston summers. Our larger unit has 2 A/C units and the people in the 1st unit have one. According to our neighbors, whose bedroom window on the 2nd floor immediately faces all 3 A/C units, make a lot of noise which is bothersome at night when they are trying to sleep.” In order to reduce the noise that your neighbor is hearing you are gong to need to do two things. First would be to interrupt the line of sight path of sound transmission […]
Traffic Noise Coming Through Windows
“We recently purchased a ten year old home that has good quality, double glazed vinyl windows (the operable kind, single hung, vertically opening). We hear traffic noise in our master bedroom, which faces the street and I am looking for a method to reduce it as much as possible.” The two most important things to keep in mind when you are dealing with a sound transmission issue are eliminating ANY common air spaces and increasing the amount of mass/density in between your noise source and a potential “listener” […]
A/C Condenser Noise Problem Solved
L.B. from Chicago, IL writes: The owners of the apartment building next door installed 2 very noisy air conditioning units right next to our back porch. They are about 4′ away from our porch, just over the property line! We love our back porch and the noise made it almost unusable. To make matters worse, […]
